Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

In a recent webinar, Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, expressed her concern on the lack of trained medical staff in tourism industry. “There is no dearth of medical personnel in India, then why are we not able to address the medical issues. That is something we need to work on immediately. More targeted and focused training by the ministry is required of the tour guides associated with the recognized tour companies” said Brar

A trusted DMC for Maldives & Indonesia, U & I Holidays has launched its web booking portal. Phase 1 unveils the Maldives module & Phase 2 will ensure Bali module upon the opening up of Indonesian borders. Split stays for combining Beach & Water Villas, 2 different resort/hotels options, complete integration of the seasonal & regular offers and many more such salient features are a part of this portal. Most importantly the system has been conceptualised, keeping in mind the traditional offline working style of any travel professional.

The Board of the Company TATA SIA Airlines has named Vinod Kannan who will succeed CEO Leslie Thng effective 1 January, 2022. Thng, after leading Vistara for more than four years, will move on to take up a senior appointment with Singapore Airlines from 1st January 2022. Kannan is currently serving as Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer.

The resumption of short-stay entry visa processing for Ireland has been announced and has come into effect from 13 September, 2021. Indians fully vaccinated with COVISHIELD can now apply for short-stay entry visas to Ireland. There are no quarantine requirements for fully-vaccinated Indians with COVISHIELD or recently recovered travellers to Ireland. Travellers must fill out a Passenger Locator Form before departure.

Garima Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, emphasized on the development of connectivity in the region. There are altogether 15 airports ensuring efficiency of travel in the region. She also spoke about the new Greenfield Airport Project which is under development; the aim is to inaugurate it by 15th August ’22, in line with the celebration of 75 years of Independence. The commencement of operations at Tezu Airport in Arunachal Pradesh along with some other important projects was also brought forward in the discussion. Initiatives are being undertaken to enhance air connectivity for the development of tourism in the North Eastern Region.

Speaking at a forum in Assam, G. Kishan Reddy said that the Ministry has sanctioned 16 projects under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in the North Eastern region. He added that through the schemes, his ministry is giving special emphasis on developing infrastructure, ground capacity and skills in the region as well as providing branding and marketing assistance. He revealed that projects worth approximately Rs 200 crore has been sanctioned for these projects.

In a recent webinar, Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism, revealed that the island nation has launched a US$12 (Rs890) mandatory insurance for a policy of US$50,000 (Rs37 lakh) valid up to one month. “We are using this opportunity to shift gears in tourism. Despite COVID, 2021-2030 has been declared as the tourism decade for Sri Lanka and we see this as a time to do things we did not do in the past. We are creating a strategic development plan.”

The Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) is organising a webinar titled ‘The Great Indian Outdoors at the threshold’ today at 11am. Guest speakers include Dr. V Venu, Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Government of Kerala; Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism; and Brig Ashok Abbey, President, Indian Mountaineering Foundation. The webinar will focus on how the sector can keep up with the growth, and guidelines and regulations that need to be implemented to curb accident rate.

The West Bengal cabinet has announced the new guidelines for the recognition of tourism service providers of Bengal. Under the new guidelines, the State Tourism Department will extend recognition to the eligible tourism service providers registered in West Bengal in the segments of tour operators, travel agents and tourist transport operators. This would certainly help the state to position Bengal as one of the top line destinations in India by ensuring quality service providers for the travellers across the world.

Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, addressed the inaugural session of the two-day conference of Tourism and Culture Ministers of North Eastern States in Guwahati, Assam. The aim is to discuss development of tourism and issues related to connectivity in the North Eastern Region. “Tourism can be a game changer that can bring socio-economic change in the nation especially in NE region,” he said. The conference also had in presence, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam; Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs; Ajay Bhatt, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Defence, also graced the inaugural session of conference.